


Sun and Moon

by GodsHumbleClown



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/F, Female Jack, Internalized Homophobia, Mentioned Sappho (fl. 600 BCE)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28281267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GodsHumbleClown/pseuds/GodsHumbleClown
Summary: More Female Jack x Sarah, because I'm a lonely lonely lesbian.Sappho's poetry? *chef's kiss*
Relationships: Sarah Jacobs/Jack Kelly
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Sun and Moon

Jack sat back on a bench, crunching on an apple and enjoying the late summer sun as long as she could. Soon, it would be firmly autumn, and then winter, and these warm weekend afternoons would be a pleasant memory. 

Today, Jack felt like she had all the time in the world. It was Saturday, so David wasn't there to nag at her, and Les' energy and excitement was nowhere to be found on such a sleepy-warm day. 

The lack of selling partners, while it would mean a bit less profit at the end of the day, also meant Jack could grab a few moments to herself, such as now. 

She wiped the apple juice off on her sleeve, enjoying a mischievous thrill at the thought of how that would annoy David, were he here right now. 

But David wasn't here. Jack reached into her breast pocket, drawing out a slip of paper and unfolding it carefully. She smiled, reading the words that continued to become more and more familiar. 

_You are, I think, an evening star, the fairest of all the stars. - Sappho_

Sarah's handwriting was neat and tidy, but she curled all her t's in a pleasantly feathery way. Jack loved it. 

David's sister had offered to mend one of Jack's shirts, and done a wonderful job of it too. Jack was quite surprised when she'd tugged the old thing over her head and felt paper crinkle in her pocket. 

That had been a few days ago, and she still wasn't quite sure how to bring it up. It sounded…like a love poem. Surely Sarah couldn't have meant it for _her_ . The Jacobs family was too… _right_ for that. Jack wasn't right. Jack was strange and odd, and she should probably stay away from Sarah if she couldn't keep that specific oddness under control. Thus why Les' nagging had done nothing to bring Jack back to the Jacobs' tenement for dinner again. 

Maybe Sarah had meant for Jack to give it to one of the boys. Yes, that must be it. But who? Sarah didn't have a notable favorite among the newsies, as far as Jack was aware. She'd better ask, or else risk sending Sarah's love to the wrong person. 

That would have to wait until tomorrow, Jack decided, wiping the stickiness of her lunch from her palms. For now, there were papers to sell and money to be made. 

No time for poetry and evening stars, not for Jack Kelly. 

* * *

Jack found herself crouched on the Jacobs' fire escape the very next evening as dusk quickly darkened the streets and sky. The moon watched, judging, as she waited. No use waking the entire family for such a silly question. 

Sarah opened the window to let the warm air in, like she always did when sleep evaded her. 

"Sarah!" Jack hissed, creeping forward and gesturing for the girl to come out. 

Sarah's face lit up as if Jack were the only person in the world she'd ever wanted to see. That was silly, Jack told herself. Sarah was always happy to see everyone. She was like that. 

So why was Jack suddenly so aware of the sweat sticking her loose hair to the back of her neck? The day's constant rain had done nothing to cool anything off, and now it was just terribly muggy out. 

Sarah scrambled out the window, one clean, fresh, beautiful thing in a sticky, sweaty, dirty city. 

"Where have you been, Jack?" Sarah threw her arms around Jack's neck, unconcerned at the grimness that always seemed to cling to anyone working on the streets. 

"Selling, mostly," Jack mumbled, returning the embrace quickly before pulling away. 

"I got your note. The one in my shirt?" Sarah's face shifted from simple happiness to a strange, guarded hope. 

"And?"

A stone settled in Jack's belly. 

"I wasn't sure who you wanted me to give it to. Was it Skittery? He's real nice, I could see why you'd like a guy like him."

Her heart thudded. Surely Sarah could hear it? Was that why the girl's face fell like that?

"I didn't mean to keep it so long," Jack said quickly. "But it was real pretty, and I wasn't sure who it was for, and I knew it probably wasn't for me to keep, cause it's a love poem, I think, and of course that's not something you'd do for another-another girl…" Jack tried very hard to sound collected, but failed miserably. 

"Oh, I-" Sarah fumbled on her words. 

"I'm sorry, I should have known. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I just…" she trailed off, turning to look at the brick walls, the laundry lines, the moon. Anywhere and everywhere except at Jack. 

"I'm sorry, Jack. It wasn't… it wasn't for anyone except you."

Jack bit her lip, hating how small and frightened Sarah sounded, as if Jack could ever be angry with her. 

"Sarah… do you… I mean, you and me..." Jack held the paper, fingers trembling. Surely… no. 

Sarah nodded, staring deliberately out at the city. The Jacobs' tenement hardly had a pleasant view, but Sarah's presence made it nearly a fairytale, moonlight shining off her hair, not a single strand displaced by breeze or movement.

_Fairest of all the stars…_

Jack shook her head out of the clouds. 

"I… you can do better, Sarah. Than me, I mean. There's plenty of folks, guys and girls, and they'd all be lucky to have someone like you, and-" Jack couldn't stop talking. 

"I don't want anyone else!" Sarah's exclamation made Jack jump, nearly sending her tumbling back off the fire escape. She tried to grab for the railing, but it was still slippery and wet from the day's rain. 

Sarah's hands reached out and grabbed Jack's shirt collar, heaving her back to safety. 

"Jack…" Sarah whispered. 

Calloused fingertips traced along Jack's face, and she shivered despite the humid air. 

"It will always be you." 

"Always?" Jack said, her entire face numb. The smells of soap and linen and soup, all the things that made up a home, made up _Sarah_ , mixed in with the sweat and dirt and smoke that made up Jack Kelly. 

Jack Kelly, wild girl, no skirts or hairpins, just a cowboy hat and entirely too much dust. She was a sunburn to Sarah's soft face, a weed in the cracked street, vines and leaves tangling underfoot. 

When had they gotten so close? Jack could feel Sarah's breath on her face. 

"Always." 

Their lips touched, like honey on a sunburn, and the moon kept right on watching, guarding, smiling. 


End file.
